The research is focused on several key problems in the system of international relations influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is shown that the events caused by it and broadly identified as a coronacrisis have a direct impact on the world economic contradictions (pandenomica) and political ones, including the sphere of security. These particular aspects are chosen as the main objects of the research. The author contends that the factor of the pandemic has sharpened the competition between regional and global players and has increased the role of a nation- state. In the conditions of transregional deglobalisation, regionalism and “protectionism 2.0” get stronger under the banners of “strategic vulnerability” and “economic sovereignty”. A further weakening of multilateral international institutions continues. The EU endeavours to secure competitive advantages on the basis of relocalisation, industrial and digital policies and the Green Deal. The article highlights the deterioration in the relations among Russia, the US, the EU and China, the unfolding decoupling between Washington and its European allies, which stimulates the idea of the EU strategic autonomy. An urgent need for the deconfliction in Russia – NATO interaction is stated.

In the period of the 21st century leading up to the Corona Virus pandemic, there was increasing consensus that the global order that had existed since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union where the unipolar hegemony of the United States was in relative decline, weakening and transforming. It was transforming from a unipolar to multipolar order, of course, the US was not going to leave the transformation uncontested in order to retain its privileged global position. The Corona Virus outbreak was a black swan event, it is also being used by various international actors to leverage opportunities caused by the weaknesses exposed in this extraordinary time. The US has been acting in an aggressive manner during the pandemic in an effort to try and weaken opponents and coerce friends in order to ‘cancel’ the pre-Corona Virus global transformations and retain its global hegemony.

The article offers an analysis of the current situation with the coronavirus in Africa. It reveals the specific features of the pandemic and the socio-political and economic consequences thereof. The author concludes that, taking exploiting the pandemic, the United States and its allies are like likely to attempt weakening the PRC’s position in Africa and preventing Russia from building up its influence. The latter, especially, in view of the success of the Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum held in October 2019, in Sochi. However, Washington’s grand plans on the African continent are seriously constrained by the fact that Africans have long asserted themselves as full-capacity subjects in international relations and refuse to be pawns in the intricate games between the United States, China and other players for world leadership. The coronavirus pandemic will undoubtedly change the position of the continent in the new “post-coronavirus” world, but these changes largely depend on how and with whose assistance Africans are to  overcome this serious test.

The paper contains the results of online opinion-polling of African experts conducted by the author of the article.

The author makes an attempt to explain the “Africa phenomenon” of the coronavirus pandemic, assesses the main risks of the spread of the epidemic and the possibilities of overcoming it. Special attention is paid to new opportunities for the development of the African economy in the “post-coronavirus world”, as well as the actions of the authorities to mitigate its socio-economic consequences.

The author arrives to the conclusion that African countries, while less affected by the pandemic than other regions of the world, are not satisfactorily ready to fight it. The pessimistic scenario of the spread of coronavirus infection in Africa cannot be completely ruled out, and the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic can become a very serious test for most countries of the continent. At the same time, a certain redistribution of the balance of power in the region should be expected. The nations that are able in a timely manner to offer Africa significant support in the fight against the pandemic will gain. The Russian Federation has a real chance to strengthen its positions on the continent, cooperation with which may increasingly become a priority for Moscow, given the changing model of world development.

The article deals with the problem of China’s medical assistance to African countries and, first of all, of its participation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic on the continent. The author analyzes the features of Sino-African cooperation in the field of medicine as of important tool of Beijing’s “soft power” policy. The role of both the state and Chinese companies and private businesses in this cooperation, as well as the role of classical and traditional Chinese medicine in the fight against diseases such as malaria, HIV - AIDS, and the Ebola epidemic in Africa, is considered. The article examines the factors that allowed Beijing to cope with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the country and to gain experience that has found application in the practice of Chinese assistance to African countries. The author analyzes the features of the COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent, where its spread is fraught with a serious threat. The focus is on the specifics of China’s medical assistance to African countries in the fight against this threat: sending medicines and protective equipment, doctors and medical personnel, and building and refurbishing hospitals. At the same time, the article analyzes the problem of eliminating the economic consequences of the pandemic for Africa and China’s participation in the recovery of the African economy, as well as the role that the global Chinese project “One belt, one road” is intended to play in these processes.

Among all the regions of the world, Latin America has been the most vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. The COVID-19 pandemic not only exposed the weaknesses of national health systems, but also served as a catalyst for the crisis socio-economic phenomena that have developed in the region over the past decade. The impact of the pandemic should serve Latin America as a clear lesson and motivate the local political and business establishment to make a significant adjustment to the content of the regional development strategy. It is logical, in our opinion, to raise the question of rethinking the role of the state in public life, the development of a modern, meeting the requirements of the moment, the Latin American concept of epidemiological and socio-economic security. In the post-covid period, at the center of public attention and targeted government efforts ought to be the challenges of radically improving health care through the priority development of those sectors of the economy that can provide diversification and, as a result, increase the level of crisis-sustainability of Latin American states. First of all, they should focus on the manufacturing industry, including the production of a wide range of medicines and equipment, as well as the sectors that ensure the development and modernization of socio-economic infrastructure: utilities, transport, alternative energy, telecommunications. In the field of international relations, the importance of cooperation with those States that have pioneered the development of COVID-19 coronavirus vaccines has increased significantly. In this context, it must be mentioned the interest that the registration in the Russian Federation of the first domestic vaccine Sputnik V provoked in Latin America.

The author explores the behavior of the West-European far-right parties under the coronavirus crisis circumstances. In the beginning stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 opposition right-wing nationalist parties tried immediately to take advantage of the difficult health situation and of the following social shock and economic problems. The actions and the rhetoric of these parties varied depending on the each country specific circumstances: number of pandemic casualties, strictness and effectiveness of measures taken by the government, national characteristic. Right-wing nationalist were able to achieve success exactly in those West-European countries, where the society was not enough consolidated. For example, Vlaams Belang in Belgium and Brothers of Italy became very popular. In front of this national cohesion and unity of society have created a formidable opposition to anti-government right-wing agitation. Political campaigns of Scandinavian far-right parties, Alternative for Germany, National Rally and the Freedom Party of Austria were almost ineffective. The current situation is unprecedented and indefinite. All sides of the political process are under tension and they are trying to calculate all possible scenarios for further development of events.

The article examines the reaction of European right-centrist politicians to the threats associated with the spread of coronavirus infection. At the same time, the political context of the perception of the problem is analyzed, especially vividly expressed in approaches to understanding the current crisis and its consequences for the European integration project. The close relationship that exists between the actualization of the national-state identity of Europeans and the increasing requirements for their security is stated. According to leading representatives of the European People’s Party, today fear plays a more prominent role in politics, prevailing over other social emotions. In such conditions, the fundamental need for people to identify themselves as part of a larger community through language, religion or a common understanding of history becomes a critical political factor.

According to the author of the article, the viral danger acts as a factor of spontaneous exacerbation of contradictions between national sovereignty and loyalty to all-European structures. At the same time, the emergency actions of national governments forced to deal with the viral threat do not pose a direct threat to European institutions, but raise doubts about their effectiveness. The leadership of the European Union will have to find the right solutions and make extraordinary efforts to maintain a common integration vector with the increased relevance of national competencies.

The article examines the negative changes in the Indian economy since the beginning of 2020 under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to overcome them. The increase in the number of cases, the introduction of quarantine led to a rapid reduction in production, mass unemployment, and a decrease in the country’s GDP. In the current emergency conditions, it became an objective necessity to increase the impact on the situation of the nation state in various forms. It took dramatic changes in the economic policy of India of the previous period, when the position of private entrepreneurship was significantly strengthened, especially in industry and services. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the government of the country, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to tackle the primary challenge - to keep the country from sliding into total prolonged stagnation and at the same time to support a multimillion poverty-stricken population. The main method of the government was the policy of financial saturation of the economy through direct financial injections, as well as the direct distribution of money and food in kind among the poor. The collapse of economic activity in India in the first half of 2020 was replaced in the third quarter of this year by signs of some economic recovery. For India, according to UNCTAD, in 2021, the opportunity to attract significant foreign investment from the leading countries of the world, interested in expanding their positions in its huge domestic market, is increasing. In the context of the pandemic, India’s role in revitalizing, at the initiative of N. Modi, political and economic contacts in South Asia between SAARC members became especially significant.

The rising “national egoism” in the US economic policy has been taken place since D. Trump’s inauguration (January 20, 2017), with focus on protectionist measures, priorities for domestic production; on encouraging US companies to invest at home instead of foreign markets; control the fields of foreign investors in the American economy, etc. Covid-19 pandemic seems to have a massive impact on global diffusion of “national egoism” practices, making states more isolationist. The outbreak of the coronavirus has already become an important factor of influence on the national economies and relations between them. The article reviews the ways COVID 19 pandemic is intensifying the economic policies of President D. Trump based on nationalism, pointing out the trade and investment restrictions, their global effects. In light of the uncertainty about the pandemic’s duration and its economic impact, the paper is focusing on the immediate and more long-term global consequences of the US economic policy. All sorts of US government policy innovations during Trump’s presidency, including imposing and threatening to impose sanctions (which become usual, as to the US policy, before pandemic), tariff protections have their effects, spreading around the globe. Most of the new policies have become even more important under coronavirus pandemic, particularly concerning major strategic competitors of the United States. The American approaches to developing new rules and updating existing ones for the international connections, new import and export control actions are designed to promote economic objectives and political objectives as well. Being a powerful political and economic actor US have many instruments to influence the relations between countries. At the same time reinforced “national egoism” practices can make the economic and international trade recovery even more sluggish in the post – pandemic world.

This article attempts to assess the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the situation both in the MENA region as a whole and in particular countries. Analysis of the dynamics of the main economic indicators showed that the region is undergoing a period of stagnation - a decrease in growth rates, a decline in business activity, and an increase in unemployment. At the same time, it should be noted that in most cases the pandemic did not generate, but only intensified the existing negative trends, which require structural transformations. Especially important is the fact that not only economically relatively weak states have suffered due to the pandemic, but also countries that traditionally rely on high revenues from hydrocarbon exports. The emerging crisis of the development model of the Persian Gulf countries is alarming. Another trend demonstrated by the second wave of the crisis was the rapid growth of political tensions in a number of countries, which could also lead to significant negative changes in the region.

The countries of Southeast Asia, like the rest of the world, have suffered substantial damage from the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, which is assessed not only in human losses, but also in significant economic and political costs. Their assessment is the main object of the article, in which the authors made an attempt to analyze the response of the countries of Southeast Asia to the emerging epidemiological threat, underscoring both general and specific in their approaches to the implementation of anti- epidemiological and adaptation measures. It is not possible to draw a single picture of the COVID-19 in the region, since the countries of Southeast Asia differ from each other both in the number of confirmed cases of infected and dead persons and in the approach to managing the pandemic. The adoption by the country of one or another set of restrictive sanitary meas ures is dictated by the severity of the epidemiological situation, economic and political interests. Evaluation of the effectiveness of actions taken to manage the pandemic and its consequences testifies, according to the authors, that the best results were shown by countries that, firstly, took proactive measures, and secondly, demonstrated the coherence of the work of all levels of government system and transparency in the provision of information thirdly, they were able to win the confidence of the population in the fight against the pandemic, which has resulted in human sacrifice and amendments to the country’s political governance and its economic development. The political consequence of COVID-19 has been the strengthening of authoritarian tendencies in governance in several Southeast Asian countries with the consequences to the weakening of the opposition and curtailment of civil liberties. The authors concluded that the pandemic has exposed the weakness of the government administration system in a crisis, which supports the analysis of the measures taken to minimize the economic consequences of the pandemic. The article assesses the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the economies of Southeast Asia and promises government policies to support its hardest hit sectors and populations. The authors concluded that today it is not possible to assess the entire scale of the losses incurred, as well as the measures taken to minimize them. But it is evident that the pandemic has become a challenge for governments and a test of their ability to govern a country in a crisis.

The article analyzes the South Korean experience of dealing with the crisis phenomena that most countries faced at the national and global levels in 2020. The fact that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the previously negative internal and external trends has made the problems of socio-economic development of the Republic of Korea more acute. Among them – the chronic difficulties of South Korean small and medium-sized businesses, the pressure by the president Trump’s protectionist measures in the US-South Korean and international trade in general, the consequences of the aggravation of the USChina standoff. The key challenges associated with the imposition of negative external factors on existing internal imbalances are evaluated. The analysis of the state policy to counteract the spread of the COVID-19 virus is carried out. The article examines the prerequisites for the stability of the national economy and the anti-crisis measures taken to resist internal and external challenges in the context of the pandemic, and assesses the prospects for correcting the development course that has developed in the Republic of Korea in recent years. The role of the created complex of innovative industries and modern medical support system is emphasized. The importance of public confidence in the government’s preventive health measures is noted. It shows, on the one hand, the importance of international value chains as a possible source of instability risk in the context of a pandemic, and, on the other hand, the potential of medical-related industries to maintain the dynamics of foreign economic relations. The importance of coordinating anti-crisis measures with China for the Republic of Korea in creating conditions that limit the spread of COVID-19 while maintaining the stable operation of major industries is noted. The prospects for Seoul’s participation in regional projects are evaluated, as an example, the activation of exports to ASEAN member countries of medical equipment and technologies aimed at combating the pandemic is given.

The article is focused on the problem of human rights (HRs), limited or derogated from, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While addressing some HRs limitations, derogations and even abuses, and their consequent problems, the aim is to try to analyze policy, social, moral and personal dilemmas of HRs restrictions as well as motivations behind the types of public and social behavior, in the course of the pandemic, in response to the public measures of sanitation, social distancing and confinement, travel restrictions and social assistance, recommended by the WHO and selectively followed by governments. Learning from some old experience and deriving new lessons from the pandemic, as well as from public and social actions and reactions, the purpose of the present article is to assess whether or not public health policies in this context, implemented nationally or internationally, can promote change in the HRs paradigm in the face of the existing dilemmas and dichotomies in HRs, aggravated by the pandemic. The conclusion is that the extant HRs paradigm should be redefined to address better the political, social, economic, environmental and, especially, existential exigencies of “rainy times”, thus leading to the creation of a new universal HRs code or to harmonizing the existing one.

The article analyzes some, in the opinion of the author, key factors that determine the nature and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, which has a more or less significant effect on the turbulent state of the modern world, giving it special specificity, additional significance and irreversible character. Having analyzed a number of pandemic assessments and ideas popular in the scientific literature for the state and prospects of the modern world, it is concluded that with all the possible reservations in this matter, the coronavirus pandemic can be considered as one of the most important factors enhancing the significance of those tectonic shifts in the basic infrastructures of the modern world, which serve as the basis for a change in the liberal/ unipolar world order by a new type of world system. It is shown that the pandemic exposed those pain points that, by definition, are characteristic of transition periods or the so-called axial times. It is accompanied by an exacerbation of contradictions and conflicts between nations, hostility and demonization of the enemy and, accordingly, various forms of racism, xenophobia. Having critically analyzed the ideas about the revival of the positive role of the national state, the supposed end of globalization, the “post-coronavirus world”, the so-called “new normality”, etc., their author’s interpretation is given. Of course, a significant place is given to a comparative analysis of the issues concerning the forms and ways of solving the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic by different countries.